It's been a few months!

I need to be better at this. Last time I wrote was in August, and so much has happened since then! I guess I should start out with the biggest news...everyone that reads this already knows, but I'll announce it anyways...we're expecting a baby at the end of May! We couldn't be happier. Here is the story: During the first couple weeks of September, I started to feel a little weird. I still don't know how much of this to attribute to being pregnant or not, but needless to say, I felt different. It started out with me becoming very short of breath. It was like I had asthma all of the sudden! And I have never had problems with breathing before, so I knew something was up. I would like hyperventilate mid sentence and have to breathe into a plastic bag. Jason and I were starting to get a little worried. Then I heard from someone that shortness of breath could be a sign of pregnancy - I had never heard of anyone experiencing this before, so I called my mom and talked to her about it. She was fairly certain that it didn't mean I was pregnant, and we kept talking each other out of the fact that I could be pregnant - not sure why, it just seemed too soon! I started to experience some other not-so-pleasant symptoms that I prefer not to talk about on this, but let's just say I wasn't as "regular" as I usually was prior to this. I started to really wonder whether or not we could be pregnant. It seemed impossible, but I purchased a four-pack of pregnancy tests, just because I knew one wasn't going to be enough to convince me either way, and they were on sale. A little embarrassing, but it's the truth. So I proceeded to make my way through the entire pack. I was at three within a span of about two weeks, and still they showed up negative. So I was convinced that something was seriously wrong with me, and planned on going to the doctor the next week to see what was going on with my body! The next week, I went into the bathroom as I was getting ready to go to class, and decided to just use the last test. It was bugging me just sitting there in the bathroom drawer unused, and I was convinced that if I took this last test and it came up negative again, I must have cancer or something horrible, because I was still feeling so strange and not-so-comfortable. Unfortunately, I didn't let poor Jason know that I was going to take the last pregnancy test, so he was a little unprepared for what would happen next. After using the test, only one line showed up, which means "not pregnant," so I was about to throw it away, when much to my surprise, a second line started showing up within a matter of seconds! I almost passed out right there in the bathroom. First of all, this just couldn't be! Second of all, I hadn't told Jason that I was taking a pregnancy test...oops! Not knowing what to do, I walked into the hall outside our bathroom and our room and said, "Jason, come here," in what I'm sure was a very frantic tone. Thinking that I just needed him to get me some toilet paper, he met me in the hall. Not knowing what else to do, I held the test up, and said, "Um....Jason, what does this mean?!" Haha, Jason just laughed and said, "Its okay, everything's going to be okay!" I flood of emotions then ran through me. We went and sat down on the bed and laughed and cried, all at once. We were so excited, but let me tell you, it's a little overwhelming when you're not expecting it! I kept apologizing, thinking that I had ruined our plans for the next couple of years, and Jason kept telling me that it was alright, and that this is what we wanted! =) After realizing how crazy I sounded, I lept (not a real word, apparently, but it's what I did, haha) for joy! This IS what we wanted, WASN'T it?! Maybe not that soon, but hey, you don't have much power when it comes to what the Lord sees you fit to experience. We were and still are absolutely THRILLED. The next week, we went and got an ultrasound to figure out the due date. The baby was healthy and growing at a perfect rate. We got to see/hear the heart beat and it was amazing. The lady doing the ultrasound told us that we were so lucky that God was giving us such a precious gift, and I couldn't agree more. The due date is May 24th! I am currently 12 weeks and 3 days along. We got to hear the heart beat last week again, and boy (or girl), is it a strong one! It was about 150 beats per minute, and every time the doctor found it with the doppler on my tummy, the baby jumped away, and we had to keep finding it. It was pretty funny. My doctor, Dr. Dan Swartz, told us that we had quite the active baby, and that it was doing Tae-Bo...double time! It is such a wonderful experience to hear the baby's heart beat and know that the sacrifices your body has been through are all worth it. I had a rough month or so right at the beginning. I was getting horrible morning sickness, and couldn't keep anything down. It was right up there with how sick I was a couple of years ago with Mono, and I vowed that I never wanted to be that sick ever again. I lost about 11 pounds, unfortunately, and was severely dehydrated. I visited the doctor too many times that month, but he took care of me and gave me medicine that has seemed to kick in quite a bit. The nurses there were so sweet, and would call me every afternoon to make sure I was doing alright, and that I was drinking as much fluids as I could. I went in to get and IV with fluids and electrolytes because I was so dehydrated, and the first time, they couldn't even find my veins. It was pretty awful. I came home with 6 pin pokes in my arms, but no fluids. They demanded that I try and drink more, and that night I drank about twelve mini-bottles of gatorade. That was the best I could do. The next day, I was still dehydrated, but they could tell I had been trying because this time, my veins were a little more visible, and I sat there for about two hours getting fluids dripped into my veins. After a couple of weeks, I started to feel a little bit better. I am doing fairly well now. My nausea is manageable, and I am still taking my medication, which seems to help a lot. I have good days and bad days, and need to make sure I am eating small meals all day. It's when I start to get hungry that I begin to go downhill again. I am expecting and hoping and praying that my morning sickness subsides completely within these next couple of weeks...we shall see! I will keep this updated. We have been having so much fun thinking of what our life is going to be like with a little baby to take care of. It's strange, but I just get so giddy when I think of changing diapers and having to get up in the middle of the night to nurse. Right now, these responsibilities sound like so much fun and excite me so much! I know that I probably won't ALWAYS feel that way, but I need to always remind myself of how much I looked forward to it while I was pregnant.
Also, we are moving to the "better coast" in December, and settling back in Bellingham, right where I belong! I can't wait to be closer to my family and to be there when Bupley comes. Jason and I are going to be working for my parents at Mt. View Group Home doing the overnights there, and are both going to continue going to school...I am determined to finish! I might be on a little slower plan than we had originally planned for, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Jason is getting close to finishing up his Associate's. We are transferring to Whatcom Community College in Bellingham in order to finish up our credits and claim Washington residency, and then transferring to Western Washington University in a year or so. Jason wants to do business, with some sort of emphasis on communications. He has been obsessed lately (it's a healthy obsession, don't worry) with alternative power sources for cars. He has been researching hydrogen, electric, and even air-powered cars, and after all this research, I am pretty sure he is going to do something along these lines. He talks my ear off about it every night, and I try my best to listen! It's a little over my head when he starts to talk about economics and such, but I'm slowly learning. I definitely support his fascination with this - he could make a pretty penny someday if he came up with an alternative to gas, and even hydrogen powered cars, both of which aren't very efficient for the environment and especially the economy. He's such a smarty pants, it amazes me every day. He's way too smart for his own good. Sometimes I think that he's a lot smarter than his professors, but unfortunately, you just have to jump through these hoops to get to where you want to be! He's already smart enough as anyone that has been through many years of college, and could fool anyone that he has his masters degree, I am sure.... we just can't wait til it is a reality! I'm so proud of him. I couldn't ask for a better husband. I don't know how he does it all - when I was really sick, he would go to school, take care of the house, cook, clean, mediate any problems between the guys, all while taking care of me and making sure I had everything I needed. I appreciate that more than anything, because I know I couldn't have done any of it myself. I didn't leave the bed for about three weeks, and was a little nervous to see what the house looked like and what the guys had been eating this whole time. SURPRISE - the house was sparkling clean, the guys were fed and happy, and all of Jason's homework was done. Amazing, I tell ya. Anyways, enough bragging.... I just really do think I have the best husband in the world. =)
So that's our most exciting news! Other than that, we have both still just been busy with school and work. For the first time in our lives, I really feel like we are financially stable, and feel completely comfortable bringing a child into this world and giving it a good life. I have been spending all of my free time reading pregnancy and parenting books, and the more I read, the more I realize I don't know! But I have come to grips with this, and realized that it will all come with experience. I do think that we'll be great parents, simply for the fact that we have so much love to give. As corny as it sounds, every night we will sing to Baby Bupley, and Jason will give it a kiss goodnight every night. It's amazing how much you can love something that is not even here yet. It truly does change everything, but in my opinion, for the better! I'm very happy with life right now, and feel so incredibly blessed. I feel so blessed for the gospel, and for the knowledge that we have of where we've been and where we are going. I'm so grateful that my child will grow up in a home full of the truth of the gospel, and that he/she will know how much they are loved by their parents and their Heavenly Father.
That's all for now! I still have to finish unpacking and putting stuff away from this weekend, when we went to Jason's little sister, Katelyn's, wedding out in Utah. It was beautiful, and so much fun to see everyone. We really love Kaden, and are relieved and happy to know that she is with someone so humble and sweet. I love you all, family and the few friends that read this. I'll make sure to update soon. =)

p.s. feel free to give us name suggestions. We have a big long list that I might post later, but we are always open to suggestions...just nothing too weird. =)